This invention relates to an abrasion resistant fabric particularly useful in dock shelters. Dock Shelters are used around doorways and openings in walls of buildings to protect building structure from impact with a truck body, and to provide protection from the weather in the space between the truck body and the building during the loading and unloading of the contents of the truck.
Dock shelters are made in several different ways. One popular version includes a flexible head curtain or panel of a heavy fabric of the type used for truck tarpaulins. The head panel is supported along its top edges and positioned to extend across the upper portion of a doorway or opening for engagement with the top of a truck body positioned for loading or unloading. Side curtains extend downwardly from the top of the opening and inwardly toward each other from the sides of the opening or doorway to engage the sides of a truck body being loaded or unloaded.
The head panel and side panels are subjected to considerable stress and wear because of the engagement with the truck body and because the panels are exposed to the wind and weather causing repeated flexing and snapping and considerable wear and strain requiring frequent replacement of the panels.
Another type of dock shelter uses cloth covered pads or bumpers on the corners and edges of the loading dock positioned for engagement with a truck as its moves into position for loading or unloading. The pads or bumpers may be filled with foam padding or may be inflatable as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,969.
The abrasion resistant fabric of this invention is useful in such dock shelters and in dock shelters of the type disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,631 entitled LOADING DOCK SHELTERS and issued May 3, 1984 upon application of Sylvan J. Frommelt. The invention is also useful in other environments where the properties of abrasion resistance and flexibility are important in the fabric.